Lawrence Block

One of the best in the business, Larry has so many Edgar, Shamus, Maltese Falcon and Nero Wolfe Awards he could fill a room with them (and probably has). He has several series and if you can't find one you like...well, this just isn't your genre.

Let's start with Matthew Scudder. We first met Matt in 1976 in The Sins of the Father. He was a lovable, but melancholy, alcoholic, unlicensed New York P.I. Being unlicensed allowed him to work just a bit outside the law at times. Along the way, he joined AA, got a little older like the rest of us, decided to go legit and get a license, and you should find out the rest for yourself. Usually, I recommend--okay, insist--that you start a series at the beginning. Not so here. Start with When the Sacred Ginmill Closes and then go back to the beginning. I can't explain why, it's just the best place to start. This series can get more than a little gritty.

Next comes Bernie Rhodenbarr. Dear Bernie first appeared in1977 in Burglars Can't Be Choosers. He is, of course, a burglar. He tried to go straight by buying a used book store but, fortunately for us, it didn't really work. Oh, he still has the book store; he just likes breaking into people's homes. It isn't that he particularly wants to steal things--it's the adventure. The problem is that wherever he goes, a dead body turns up and he's the number one suspect. There is a fun cast of characters and a lot more humor in these books than in the Scudder series.

Keller first came to us in full-length form in 1998 in Hitman. Being a hit man is not an honorable profession, but you just can't help liking this guy. The "organization" is whacky; the guy who heads it has been dead for some time now but none of the customers know it. Keller goes house hunting in every city where he's gone to make a hit because one of these days he might want to retire and move out of New York. You just have to read it to understand how lovable and funny a guy who kills people for a living can be.

Evan Tanner has been around since The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep in 1968. Even though I've said I'd read anything Lawrence Block wrote, including his shopping list, I've never been a Tanner fan. But when Tanner reappeared in Tanner on Ice after a 30-year gap, Block explains his absence in a very creative way. A little far fetched maybe, but fun. I'm not going to spoil it by giving away any more here. There are many more novels, short stories, anthologies, and non-fiction works by this creative and productive man. They are all listed in his books so there is no need to add them here.

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